The Death of Rozenfel Malephaise
by ARBco
Summary: Reliquary agents César and Endrbyt have a centuries-long assignment to collect mystical and dangerous artifacts. But when seeking out an ancient daemonic artifact, they have a dilemma they've never encountered before - and hope never to again.


**The Death of Rozenfel Malephaise**

 _As recounted by a senior and distinguished retriever._

 _Before the War or Devastation..._

The boot to my shins stirred me from my rest. Light filtered into my sight again as I stirred slowly, which is probably why the boot was followed with a knock to the head.

"Ow! That _hurt_.", I protested, looking at the heavy figure standing over me.

His expression remained unmoved, his eyes hidden behind dark shades. "No, it didn't.", he grumbled, turning away before fetching his coat. Well, that's fair. I've got a _really_ hard head.

"... my feelings.", I concluded, placing my hand to my chest dramatically. He sure could be impatient for a man his age. I stood as he donned his wide hat, making his way out of the hut. I followed after, the light of the sun bleaching everything for a moment before my sight recovered, the sounds of the wild filtering in.

"How long was I out?", I asked. I felt charged up and ready to take on the day, though he looked as worn as ever. Maybe if I knew what was coming, I'd have been as glum as he. Resting against the exterior of the hut, he pulled out a rice ball to take a bite of, swallowing before looking irritated. Really, he always looked a least a _little_ irritated. "Can't your fancy core tell?", he mumbled. I considered that. Sort of. I wasn't exactly a number-cruncher, but I had a sense of how long it'd been. "Sure. But I trust you more. Neither of us is getting any younger, you know." He's silent at that.

"Eight days.", he finally said. "We don't have any more time. Word came from Karminene, The sisters are on the move." My shoulder-plates fell. Great. Wonderful. _Fantastic._ "How much time do we have?", I asked, but I knew the answer before he says it. "None to waste. We're going to at least Code Red."

"Where is the rookie?", I asked, checking the perimeter for a moment. Just squirrels, birds, and wind. "She'll be back from confirming the target soon.", he added as he gulped down the last lump of rice. I looked over to him, tilting my head. "Careful. Don't want you choking. I can see the report now, 'César Grist, cause of death: slain by the dreaded _onigiri'._ Not paperwork anybody needs, partner."

Finally, he looked over to me, but I didn't need to see his eyes to feel the glare. _Success_. "Partner? You were napping while I was playing babysitter-", he grumbled, but his attention was drawn away by the young woman running up to us. Pausing, she put her hands on her knees, the lock on her torque hanging down from her neck as she caught her breath. "- speaking of which.", César concluded. But I couldn't help taking a poke at his dour mask. "But you're such a doting caretaker! There's a reason why Karminene trusts you with the rookies. Your big, mechanical heart."

I could imagine every dot of the ellipse spelling out his silence. César's heart was a machine, much like mine. Well, actually, mine was more of a rock-

"The target is still there. She hasn't moved yet.", she finally said between breaths. César stood up straight, getting into that purposeful walk of his. Walk? Stalk? Even after all this time, I wasn't sure if that step was deliberately meant to intimidate... or it was just the way time had worn on him. She quickly scurried out of his way, trailing after him, and I casually took up the rear. This was going to be a mess. We all knew it was. Over six months of planning was now chopped down to hours.

"I'll scout ahead with my jet boots.", I announced matter-of-factly, and she looked to me with wide, expectant eyes. César pulled his brim down, correcting to the girl. "There aren't any jet boots." It was an easy in for me to follow up with, "See, that's why I need my request for them approved..."

Me? I'm Endrbyt. I'm a golem. I work for the Reliquary. We put bad magic things in boxes and hope everybody else just forgets about them. The big taller lug was César. He's got a machine for a heart, and it keeps him from dying or smiling properly. Still, not many thugs I'd rather have at my side on a mission like this. Together, we fight evil. Well, I fight evil. He sighs and goes along with my lead, mostly.

"Well, at least we're both on this. The daring duo, the devils of the Reliquary, the fossils of the flats-", I started up. But he cut me off, speaking his words like he was biting them off. " _Why_ are you talking to me? _Clearly_ there's somebody else that might tolerate it." I look up as if I was rolling my eyes. I don't have the kind of eyes that roll. But I'm used to pretending.

Finally, I look down to Sidwely, and she looked back to me, giving a helpless shrug. She was the newbie here, mainly sent along so we had somebody that _didn't_ essentially have a sign on their back in big red letters announcing "RELIQUARY OPERATIVE". We had a target we were tracking, but no point passing that on to her. As for the retrieval of the artifact, she wasn't supposed to be involved. We were supposed to show her the ropes in the meantime. Which mainly fell to César, to his chagrin, since I'd been busy with self-maintenance. Hell of mission to do it on, though. This wasn't exactly a everyday assignment.

It took a moment for her to finally speak. "Well, he's right. I don't mind talking. But... should I be doing anything when we get there?", she finally piped up with. I thought on that, considering scenarios that seem to, troublingly, keep end up with me imagining her lying very, very still. I've seen enough humans come to a permanent stop in my time, but- no thank you. I'm not much for the sanctity of death, and she wasn't going to make it very far against the potential opposition we had.

"Yeah. We have a very important mission for you." I said as I halted in my step for emphasis, and she stopped in unison, I let gravitas settle into my speakers. "I want you to listen very carefully."

She nodded, listening attentively, absorbing my words.

Finally, I leaned in close, delivering her very vital mission: "For sake of the Seven Gods, when the retrieval starts, _stay out of our way!_ "

She flinched. "Ah- that's- that's what I thought. César mentioned. Wait. Seven Gods?", she said as César gives us the look that gets us moving again. I didn't clarify the number, though. César would probably have gotten _vexed_ if I started getting into religion, considering his past. "So, you two always work together?", she guessed, and I shook my head. "Only when things are very bad. But I'm always happy to see César again. And one of these decades now, he'll be happy to see me." Turning to him, she watched César's back, and I leaned over conspiratorially. "I'm wearing him down." I could hear his sigh echo back to us.

"So, any idea why the target is on her own?", I asked her. "No.", she replied as she stared into the distance. "She doesn't seem to be up to anything, she just seems to be washing clothes, making money... living." Seemed like it should be a relief, but it really wasn't. And so turned to our silent partner: "What do you think, César? Think she's on the run? That she pissed off the king? Maybe some kind of trouble between the sisters?"

I silently mimicked his helpless shrug and emphatic words behind him as he said, "I don't care. You _know_ I don't care. We get the artifact, get out, and let the Chief Containment Specialist worry about the details." Sidwely snickered, and that at least got him to glance over his shoulder as I let my body go into the neutral golem pose. Some days, I wish I had a face, but the lack of an expression is a pretty useful expression to have sometimes.

"You don't act much like a golem.", Sidwely commented. I get that often. How _is_ a golem supposed to act, anyway? But I had my pat answer. "Well. I don't act much like a human, either."

As we walked into the city of Kalos, we got plenty of attention from the hoi polloi. The kind you get one of you has a massive ironstar on his back and the other's a golem in a hooded poncho. The key with to avoiding trouble, usually, is just to act official. More official than the guards, more than the knights, more than King Alexian. Eventually, somebody with more love for Jeffreys than their own well-being might have shown up to ask what we're doing. But we'd be gone by then. We had centuries of practice at this sort of thing.

"Do you know how long it's going to take them to get this lock off of me?", Sidwely said, putting a finger under her torque. That... was a complicated question for her to bring up at a moment like this. "Well, you're working with the finest artifact experts in all of Indines. If anybody can figure it out, they can.", I said, clumsily evading her question. Pretty sure I didn't fool her. Even with all my experience, sometimes there's just not a good way to say something. You can just say my hopes weren't too high.

"This it?", César interrupted as we came to a rough, small two-story structure - a laundry down below, apartment above. "The Washing Well", the sign said. I didn't exactly have olfactory sensors at the time to analyze the smell - I'm told it's bad - but I could notice the trace hints of alchemical magic. The sort of sorcery that cleaned out the toughest of stains. "Wait outside.", he said to Sidwely. I let César lead, pushing aside the curtain that hung in place of a door. The interior was cramped, the sort of place that encouraged you to duck in, dump your clothes and payment, and slump out.

A short woman stepped up to the counter - shorter than me, even - looking to César's coat beneath her bangs of dark hair. "We don't really clean that kind of-" There was a slight pause from her as César unslung the Ironstar off his back, maneuvering it deftly despite the relatively short ceiling to rest it against the counter. "-oh." Her eyes darted away. "I've been expecting you. I actually thought you'd be here sooner. Well, I guess this was nice while it lasted."

"Yeah, hand it over! Before we have to get serio-" I started instinctively, but then saw the tiredness in her eyes, realization hitting me. "... wait ..." Sure, there was magic coming off of the cleaning baths, everyday alchemy, but it's what I _didn't_ see that gave me pause. César looked to her long, limp sleeve hiding her left arm, and I could see the metaphorical gears turning over in his head. "Let's get this over-", he started, but didn't bother finishing his sentence before moving

He reached to try and grab her, and I was just fast enough to catch his hand before he spun up. I don't know if I could actually stop him, but doing that gave him pause. He gave me his look of quiet menace, but I just focused on to the woman rather than worrying about major moody. "Left arm. Let's see it.", I demanded bluntly. Wasn't a time for jokes or games, given we could have a hell of a fight in a moment. Slowly, she pulled up her sleeve. Clean bandages and prayer strips where half her arm had been lost, taken off just below the elbow. Just as I'd guessed. If she'd had been be wearing the artifact we were looking for, it'd have set off every internal alarm I had before we'd gotten in the door.

It was César's turn to take pause. " _What?_ ", he started in shock. This was a bad job, but it was always worth it to see his mask of indifference crack.

We had a job to finish, sure, but I got my partner to let me hear her out. "Coffee?", the woman asked, taking a pot from the stove. César looked uncomfortable in the cramped second-story apartment, but then, he always looked a _little_ uncomfortable wherever he was at. And irritated. But I'm repeating myself. In any case, he waved off the notion of a beverage.

"Oh, me!", I started cheerfully, and César gave me his usual look. "What? I'm just being polite." Peering up from the couch, Sidwely confusedly pointed out, "But you don't have a mouth." I shrugged with my armored shoulders again. "I can still enjoy the smell.", I insisted. César just shook his head wearily, saying just above a whisper, "You don't have a _nose_." I faked a little sigh. "Now you're just being cruel." Sidwely took a cup of coffee, at least, and the woman poured one for herself.

The woman looked at us, letting things settle for a moment before talking. "I was hoping you'd come, actually. This was good while it lasted, but... the other sisters will find me sooner or later. It's best that you found me first." I leaned over the couch. I'd already figured out where the artifact we're looking for was, but there was no need to hide my deduction. Without the claw, she wasn't exactly standing in César's way. "Clever, putting it where you did. Like..." César finished my sentence. "... hiding a smell with soap." I pointed to him sharply, exclaiming, "And that's why we're partners!" He just turned away, though, looking out the window. So cold, César, just leaving me hanging like this.

"But- why haven't the sisters tracked you down, anyway?", I asked. She set the kettle down with a sort of heavy finality before she continued. Final cup, huh? "We aren't exactly each other's keepers. But one of them will take notice sooner or later, and they're _definitely_ notice something's wrong as soon as you take the claw."

It's a hell of a dilemma. Normally an artifact of Malephaise - like the Left Claw that she used to bear, in this case - takes control of the bearer. And there's only one solid Reliquary rule when dealing with those holding on to Malephaise artifacts: avoid all contact, if possible. The "Seven Sisters" of Malephaise are too much of a risk. There've been some attempts to, um... how do I put it nicely... _eliminate_ them and take their artifacts. Rarely goes well. But this sister had been acting oddly. We figured we might have a shot with her completely out of touch with the others, as far as we'd seen. I know, makes us sound like thieves, but if so, we're And, bluntly, once they're corrupted, they're extremely bad people. Never much sleep lost with hurting them. But with her somehow managing to remove it, to regain some sort of control, that could mean... well. What did it mean, anyway?

And so, I asked, "How'd you break the claw's influence?" The woman looked into her mug of coffee. "I don't know if it was me. It could have been a mother's bond was strong enough to wake me up… I was with child. Not allowed by Lord Malephaise, of course. Maybe I was in love, maybe... the claw was in love? Ridiculous, but I don't exactly know where I left off and it began, back then. It didn't work out between us, of course, with me still being a daemon. But as the child grew, I started to remember who I was. And for the sake of my child, I took the claw off the only way I could figure out how."

César snorted. "To think alchemy could cover up an aura like that... heh." He almost smiled. But there was a problem, I realized, and I couldn't leave it unsaid. "The claw's still a part of you, though.", I pointed out, and she nodded with a numb look. Removing it may have broken its hold on her mind, but not on her soul. It was still very much linked to her. I looked to César silently. A silent debate hung in the air. Taking it almost certainly would get her killed by the Malephaise sisters. Well, they might have her killed either way, considering what she did. If took her back to the Reliquary, Karminene would probably have her executed as a potential reclamation risk. After all, the Sisters might be able to link to the Left Claw through her. I know César's going to take the long view: doesn't matter what happens to her, putting the claw away would save the world a lot of death and grief. Right answer to the wrong question, I guess. I wished I was younger than a millennium old, that I was naive enough to have the argument with him. I liked playing the hero. But sometimes... it was just playing.

"What happened to the child?", I asked, the question voiced as soon as I thought of it. She sipped, gripping the mug like it was a lifeline. "Far away from here.", she said simply. Well, at least that was a relief. Not that I didn't have concerns, but it put the matter out of our purview. César started towards the stairs with that purposeful stride of his. "Wait-", I started to say, and he barely turned his head, apparently deciding I wasn't worth the glare. I gave an apologetic look to the woman. Well. I wished it was apologetic. I don't have expressions. And usually I'm fine with that, I'm fine with being a golem. But this time, I wished I had more to work with.

Sidwely looked to me, her own mug empty. "Are you really- this isn't right!", she finally spoke up with. What could I have told her? I could have argued the math, but she was hardly so innocent that she hadn't already done it. But she was just innocent enough to not care. "Tell it to the world, kid.", I managed to say. Pretty pathetic, as far as words went. I felt as heartless as they say golems can be. Maybe I was.

César and I went down the stairs to the first floor, the woman following. César stood before the wash basin, and I turned to her as I hit the bottom of the stairs. "Well. Can we?", came my vague question, but I didn't need to specify what came next. She just nodded, and my partner didn't hesitate, plunging his arm into the alchemical cleaning bath. Well, probably the cleanest that sleeve will have been in months... I thought to myself, then felt a little sick at the notion of humor for a change. I like keeping things light, but it wasn't the time. Even when nobody can hear.

The claw was wrapped in soaked prayer strips, and the woman slumped slightly as if weakening. She was resisting its hooks in her, no doubt. My arm went out instinctively to hold her back as I... _unfolded_... and César shoved the daemonic artifact into my guts. I had a lot of ribald jokes, but I kept them to myself as I closed up. They weren't very funny, anyway. I sensed her relax as my internal wards closed up around the claw, and all I could think is how smoothly this was going. Like the alchemical bath, my interior would keep the Malephaise sisters from tracking the claw... any further, anyway. But chances were real good they had our position. We had to go.

And we started our way out. Sidwely sprung down to the street from the second-story window "Wait, we're just going to leave her here?", she blurted out. Without looking to her, César echoed bluntly, "We?... job's done." I keep silent as we walk. "But they'll kill her!", she insisted, but César and I remain silent. She wasn't wrong. But both of us have been around for a long time. We've seen a lot of people go, and you learn there's not always a way to be the storybook hero. I liked to be the hero. But I didn't know what I was, right then. All I knew is that facing a Malephaise sister at this point was too much of a risk, and trying to protect her would mean a fight we were barely ready for. Hell, we could call in most of the Reliquary and the odds might go up to good, but never great. And it was the woman's call. Wasn't it?

Of course, the timing for troubles can sometimes be storybook. I sensed the magic first closing in on our position. Stank of souls, the well, the Malephaise home hell. I looked over to the rookie. "Sidwely, listen to me. We're in trouble. Get out of sight." She backed off, looking for a place to hide.

But there wasn't much time before César followed my lead, noticing the smoke of a landing impact several blocks over. "That was quick.", he grumbled. Coming to a stop, I planned, "I'll activate my jet boots, take them from above while you keep them occupied. Delta Maneuver Dragoon, right?" He groaned. "There's no such- _you don't have jet boots_." I look to him. " _Exactly._ Which is why you need back me up when I tell Karminene to finally get some installed!" No response from the big guy, of course, as he focuses on the incoming opposition. It's fine. There's something more important right now than getting under his skin. But I had to say something to break my tension, at least.

The approaching daemon was anything but subtle, in any case, emerging from the crowd. As street traffic parted, Ariel Malephaise walked towards us casually, flexing the fingers of the right claw in anticipation. Not our first meeting, if you're wondering how I had the name. "Shouldn't the Reliquary be locking up relics like you two instead of employing them?", she said with a confident smirk. Well, we were experienced. The best of the best. That meant the two of us might have a chance against her. _Might._

"Oh, hey, it's the Right Claw of Malephaise, how's it going?", I jibed, looking to the artifact on her arm. "You're looking nice. Clean, not too bloody. Keeping sharp?" She slowed to a stop in front of us. "If only you had blood to spill-" I held up a hand, interrupting her. "Hey! I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to The Right Claw. _Your boss_."

Taunting her was a pretty bad idea, but I stand by it. As she leapt at me, I raised my arm, the buster cannon unfolding barely- in- time-

A flare of white energy, and she was blown back by my shot, missing my head only by a few fingers. It didn't really _hurt_ her, though, and I had only moments to raise my other, shielded arm. She was already upon me again, moving with a literally damned relentlessness. The plan: sacrifice the arm to her attack, then counter. Not a great plan, but it's the sort of plan you fall back on when one of the sisters is up in your grill.

... but then César suddenly interposed himself, slamming down his ironstar to shield me. As the claw impacted with it, sparks flew, and his mechanical heart spun up audibly as he dug in. Shards of the street rippled up with the impact, hanging in the air as I see him brace to counter-charge Ariel. But he was too late, as she just kept coming forward. The claw hit the ironstar again with the cracking roar of breaking metal, and I saw one of its blades tumble into the air as he was launched off his feet. César smashed through the corner of a nearby building, wood and planks detonating with his impact. Thanks, big guy. He'd given me an opportunity.

My shielded arm unfolded into a claw of its own as I activated its grapple function, and I unslung it at her. While she was on the backswing of her attack on César, I was able to catch her left arm. She resisted the pull, and normally I'd probably lose the tug-of-war. But I had the Left Claw to drain off magic from, giving me the strength to match her for a moment. "Get over... here!", I shouted in frustration, pulling her in before performing a solid hook at her jaw as she flew past me. Yep, I really did hurt her. Legit. I was proud for a moment. But then, her claw grasped my grappling claw, and there was a rending tug as I fought her strength… before my arm came out of my socket.

Just because I don't feel pain doesn't mean I can't find that intensely alarming. I tried to back off, leaping away, but she was already on me, smashing me into the ground with a pounce. Then there's the part where I guess I have to mention how she wailed on me, using my arm as a club. I struck back with my blaster, but it mostly just shed light on how bad it was. Unnecessary alarms started firing off on all sorts of runic circuits. Yes, _thank you_ , I knew perfectly well she was beating me apart with my own arm, I didn't need the details! Where is tall, dark, and-

And on cue, César returned - minus his hat - swinging the ironstar overhead at her. She tried to defend herself with the claw, but his heart was spun up now, and he could at least rival her strength… if not for long. I'm pretty sure she was hurt as she got knocked away, but she managed to snap another blade with her claw. If I could look alarmed, I sure would be, given it impaled the ground... right next to my head. I'm not one hundred percent on this, but I'm pretty sure she was trying to put distance between the two of them, but that's when he flung the damn ironstar, catching her with its weight like some hundred-pound throwing star. He tried to pull it back with his cord, but she got ahold of the ironstar with that damned claw, and the weapon just started to rust and collapse with a hellish light.

He fought her for his weapon, but started to slow, his body overheating. But she was still quick as an arrow, and the slight hesitation from him was all she needed. I saw a blur, and the claw just punched right through him. Then, she started she started slamming him down repeatedly into the ground. And laughing a lot. Really, Ariel? I knew he wasn't going to die right away, but she could probably kill him if she decided to put her heart into it. When his glasses went flying, though, I at least hoped losing those might give him a second wind, but it just didn't seem to be happening yet. And yes, I tried to get up, but mostly I got alarms telling me how I wasn't getting up. Always helpful. Why did they install those, again? They only ever told me obvious, depressing things.

Finally, she let go of my partner, and stalked up to me as she wrinkled her nose irritably. "Wow, you two are actually a pretty troublesome pair of pests. I wonder how I'd do with two claws, though? You think I could pull it off., " I tried drawing more power from the claw, but it was like it was wise to me, fighting me. I got a trickle of mana, at least, and pushed myself up a little with my remaining arm. "I don't know, that sounds privately uncomfortable in ways we don't need to discuss.", I joke. Try and keep her off her game, maybe she'll forget to break my core in her anger. Small hopes.

And that's when Sidwley tried to play amateur bodyguard, springing over the cart she'd hidden behind. Putting herself between me and Ariel? Great, now I was going to have dead human all over me. And guilt. Could she fight? Sure. This fight? Not a chance. _Go, run_ was just too cliché to say aloud, though, but then Sid beat me to it. "Go, run!", she started, but I wasn't walking, much less running. Ariel sighed, saying, "I wonder how many Reliquary agent records end in 'suspected encounter with Ariel Malephaise, missing on assignment'. But I'll be nice, let César live, I know he _loves_ paperwork." Ariel came to a stop, regarding Sidwely's lock. Curiosity sparked in her eyes, and in a blur, she tried to grasp it, to yank it off. Whups. Bad idea, Malephaise.

A flare came from the lock like lightning. Sidwely screamed, her body flaring with a black fire for a moment, and Ariel was launched away, skipping and skidding across the street. Turns out the lock reacted badly to being removed. We'd found that out the hard way, no matter how many tests we'd done on it. But that magic could be handy- so- _sorry, kid._ I forced myself up, grabbing Sidwely's shoulder as my cannon folded back in, letting the power receptors in my fingers bleed off the lock's magical reaction. I had power. I was up again. As Sidwely passed out, I caught her. By which point, Ariel was up again too. "What the hell is-"

"LEVEL 4 PROTOCOL!", came César's shout came out of nowhere, and that's when I saw the building he'd smashed into... flying. Well, more a sort of arc as he swung a whole warehouse as the clumsiest of weapons. Ariel could see the shadow, just long enough to get recognition on what was happening before it came down on her, a cloud of stone and wood erupting and sweeping out across the street. I could see the light of his mechanical heart flaring as he slowed, his still-human body now well past its magically-enhanced limits. I picked Sidwely up, shouldering her. "Time to make like a tree.", I managed to my partner as he walked over towards me, his body steaming. Well, at least it was over for now. Or so I thought, foolishly forgetting that storybook timing of trouble.

That's when I saw the rubble stir, and it was pure honesty that came out of my mouth. "I just want to say for the record, Ariel: _I never liked you_.", I griped, but my words were on deaf ears as she crawled out, the claw whipping with daemonic light. Yeah, I knew enough to recognize a berserk Malephaise sister. She was badly hurt, for sure, but that wasn't about to stop her until she'd calmed down. Sorry, Reliquary. I thought we had this one. Hopefully there'll be enough of me this time for you slap me back together again.

And then the launderer emerged from the building, immediately drawing Ariel's attention. "Rozenfel.", she spat, looking over to the woman. "Traitor." There was a curling around the woman's lost arm, as she closed her eyes, speaking, "To Malephaise, maybe. But not to Indines. And not to my daughter." And that's when I saw the Left Claw of Malephaise emerge from the remains of her arm- no, more like the _ghost_ of the Left Claw. I don't know how she did it, but I guess they're a little more tied to her bearers than we thought, even removed and surrounded with wards. Ariel leaped upon her with a screaming howl, and the two clashed. I was barely standing. Maybe we could take her, if the gods decided they were our finest friends. But if a second Malephaise showed up, we were beyond done. And that was a risk we couldn't bet on. "Get your arm around me.", I managed to César. "And we can get away... with my jet boots."

"...", César managed as grabbed onto me, and I pulled him and Sidwely away. I heard her mumbling, begging me to go back, but I didn't. I could hear the fight echo across town… until I couldn't anymore. But the sisters never found us.

I woke up to the sound of voices, recharged if not repaired, but I didn't move. We'd made camp about a day out of Kalos, well off the road. It was César and Sedwely, being... talkative? I didn't move yet. I was too curious.

"... leave now, we won't be able to pursue. The mission is everything.", I heard him say.

"But... I need to get this thing off. I _have_ to." Yep, that was her.

"Karminene is never going to remove it. Here-" There was a pause. I would hear rustling. "- this is my heart." There was a moment of silence, and he went on. "I've had... second thoughts... about what we do. I tried to walk away. They shut this down, collect me, and put me back to work."

There was another long wait before she talked. "This... isn't a test, is it?"

He almost laughed, snorting. "I don't play games."

There was quiet, and then I could hear her moving. "Where... where can I even go?"

"Are you stupid?", I heard him grumble. "Don't ask me."

"Right.", her voice echoed out. "Thanks... for being honest with me, I thought-" I heard her moving. "- well, I hope you find- well, thanks again. Goodbye."

I waited until I couldn't hear her anymore, and stirred. "How much did you hear?", César said in his dry tones. Sounding like he didn't care. Didn't fool me.

"All the important parts.", I said, sitting up. "Look at you! You big softie with the big golem heart. Karminene is going to be _so_ angry." He looked away, shaking his head before speaking up, "She wouldn't have survived the work. Would've gotten herself killed, along with others." I got up, testing my joints before trying to ask him a question I knew he wouldn't properly answer. "What do you think of what she said? You think there was a way to save Rozenfel?"

I could see his eyes now, no glasses, no hat shadowing his face, all his scars out in the open. He looked so much older, so much more tired. Maybe being impaled took a lot out of him, too, despite being one of the toughest guys in Indines. As for me, I still functioned. "Worry about the future, not the past. You know our duty.", he murmured. I searched for an argument. Ultimately Rozenfel's actions weren't for an old golem like me to ponder. I didn't have tears to shed, and this wasn't the first time I'd seen somebody take their ending into their own hands. And as much as I'd like to say her heroism changed me, I was a millennium old, and that was a better end than most. This was Sidwely's lesson to take from this mission, not mine. I already had made plenty of bad decisions for the good of Indines. Good ones too, and maybe there was a balance. I just hoped Sid could find the better choices that I'd lost.

But my partner already spent most of his time beating himself up. That wasn't my role here. My role was to remind him of his humanity, at least until our respective tasks were finally done. "If I had jet boots, we'd be home by now, so, if you could talk to the Chief Containment Specialist-", I started in again, but he cut me off again. _"_ Will you shut... _up..._ about the _damn_ _boots_." _,_ César said methodically, as if choking back the temptation to shout.

I don't really laugh. But at least in that moment, I think I knew what it might feel like.


End file.
